PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLIES/ ASSEMBLY FOR THE RIGHT TO LIFE AGAINST WAR- HATAY

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this report is to increase the visibility of the effects of the Syrian war and the policies of the Turkish political administration regarding the conflict on the province of Hatay by presenting the direct views of the city’s residents using confirmed primary sources; to prevent censorship and disinformation that open the way for war and enmity between peoples; and to support efforts to foster a life of peace, fraternity and humanity with correct information.

In the period that began with the 11 May 2013 Massacre in Hatay’s Reyhanlı district and extends to the most recent 13 March 2016 Massacre in Ankara, this report on Hatay not only illustrates the serious problems affecting one of Turkey’s provinces but depicts issues that impact the country as a whole. The report has duly been prepared with such a perspective.

The writers of this report, the Assembly for the Right to Life against War, previously raised awareness about the free movement of jihadists around Antakya, particularly members of the al-Nusra Front, as well as a Train-Equip Program in nearby Serinyol, running a successful campaign to halt such developments. Likewise, the Assembly will continue to follow developments on the problems it raises.

METHODS

The report makes use of announcements from the Presidency, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), the Interior Ministry, the Hatay Governor’s Office and other state organizations; statistics, reports and announcements from the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly, the Turkish Union of Agricultural Chambers, the Turkish Medical Association and the Human Rights Association; news reports from trustworthy media outlets; face-to-face interviews with local residents who have experienced the gravity of the war first-hand, as well as observations in different areas of the province.

During the preparation of the report, observations were made in the districts of Antakya, Defne, Reyhanlı, Altınözü and Yayladağı, while face-to-face interviews were conducted with refugees, villagers in border areas, employees at aid organizations, workers, smugglers, local reporters, university students, representatives for mass organizations and members of political parties. Names have been withheld due to security concerns.

The report focuses on the period from 3 February 2016, when the supply line used by jihadists between Gaziantep and Aleppo was cut, and 14 March 2016.

While this report naturally depicts just a portion of the reality, it will be published with greater scope with each new step that advances the activities of the Assembly and the support of all people and organizations that desire to see a Hatay, Turkey and Middle East full of peace and fraternity.

DEVELOPMENTS

Significant developments since February 2016:

After Turkey downed a Russian plane on 24 November 2015, Russian and Syrian forces intensified operations to the north of Latakia, while also cutting off supply lines between Gaziantep and Aleppo on 3 February, prompting an increasing number of entries from Syria to Hatay. The entries included refugees escaping the war, jihadists escaping battles, and jihadists who withdrew to Turkey in preparation for a return to Syria.

Amid the swelling of Syrian refugee numbers to 402,000 within the province, Hatay has become an important transit corridor for government-supported jihadists who have used the Hatay-Syria border as a two-way street and the province as a staging point before entering Syria from Kilis for onward journey to Azez.

Worries have risen among residents in the border districts of Reyhanlı, Altınözü and Yayladağı amid the intensifying clashes on the Syrian side of the frontier, an increase in military mobilization on the Turkish side, the visibility of jihadists, falling shells and the firing of rockets and artillery shells across the border.

Media reports that have targeted Hatay’s Arab Alevi population, attempted to provoke Sunnis with unsubstantiated rumors and presented the ethnic-religious origin of a Hatay parliamentarian as a source of controversy have appeared with an abnormal frequency.

Economic losses stemming from the war and the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) policies have continued.

Deficiencies in the living standards of refugees have continued in terms of a poor housing situation, insufficient access to health services, human trafficking, forced prostitution, sexual exploitation, child marriages, unregistered work and jobs at low wages.

PRESENCE OF SYRIANS AND FOREIGNERS INVOLVED IN THE SYRIAN WAR IN THE CITY

Since the arrival of the first refugees on 29 April 2011, approximately 3 million refugees have fled to Turkey over the five subsequent years. Speaking on 5 February 2016, President Tayyip Erdoğan declared that 2.7 million Syrians had arrived in Turkey, [1] a figure corroborated by Interior Minister Efkan Ala. [2] The United Nations has said there are 2,715,789 Syrians in Turkey.[3]

Turkey’s open-door policy at the border had been suspended for around a year, but in the wake of clashes in the Bayır-Bucak area north of Latakia toward the end of 2015, this policy was loosened once more in Hatay’s Yayladağı district. With the Syrian army controlling the other side of the Yayladağı Border Gate, a de facto gate has been opened at Güveççi, while Yayladağı’s Kızılçat village has become an important transfer point. Meanwhile, crossings at the Cilvegözü Border Gate in Reyhanlı are possible subject to the permission of the Hatay Governor’s Office. The office has permitted entries for the wounded, as well as entries and exits for vehicles belonging to “aid organizations,” while individuals who enter the province without permission are deported through the border crossing. At the beginning of February, individuals covered in mud were frequently seen escaping from Hatay’s intercity bus station as they sought to travel to other cities from Hatay. After a Turkish soldier was killed on 14 February 2016 at Güveççi, checks were increased in the area, while procedures to grant IDs to new Syrian arrivals were terminated. Those coming from Turkey are now forced to stay in camps on the Syrian side of the border.

402,000 registered Syrians in Hatay

Hatay Gov. Ercan Topaca said in a 15 February press conference that five camps for the refugees in the province had been constructed in Altınözü, Yayladağı, Reyhanlı, Apaydın and Karbeyaz, adding that of the 402,000 refugees in the province of 1.533 million people, 132,000 were children. Topaca also told journalists at the Hatay Governor’s Office that some of the refugees were Turkish citizens, adding that “of the 402,000 refugees in Hatay, 18,000 are in camps, while 185,000 are staying as guests using their own resources in various places in the province.”[4]

Governor’s Office: 500-1,500 illegal entries a day

Gov. Topaca said around 500 people a day were apprehended in the process of attempting to cross the border, adding that there were times this figure reached 1,000 to 1,500 per day.[5]

The European press has questioned the veracity of the numbers,[6] voicing suspicions that the figures have been manipulated to use as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the European Union

Despite the figure of 402,000 officially registered refugees in Hatay, the true number cannot be ascertained precisely because the number of Syrians who enter illegally or leave Hatay without permission is not known and because it is unclear how many of the officially registered refugees are Syrian.

“80% of ‘Turkmens’ that entered in February are jihadists”

Corroborating previous media reports, our interviews with officials at the Hatay Governor’s Office, employees with aid organizations and residents of areas near the border confirm that a significant proportion of the people who purportedly entered from Yayladağı as refugees in the recent migrant wage were actually jihadists, including fighters from Central Asia, North Africa and the Caucasus. One source whose name we have withheld noted that 80 percent of the recent wave of ostensible Turkmens that entered through Yayladağı were not actually Turkmen.

A wall is being constructed along the border in Reyhanlı, Altınözü and Yayladağı, but open areas remain, while the wall can also be surmounted in other areas. The villages of Bükülmez in Reyhanlı and Güveççi in Yayladağı witness the most frequent illegal crossings.

Illegal entry to Turkey for 100 dollars per person

According to interviews we conducted with a number of people in border villages in Reyhanlı and Altınözü who occasionally engage in smuggling, human smugglers engage in the trade in both directions, with passage to Turkey costing 100 dollars per person, falling to even 40 TL in some locations. On the Syrian side, groups that are in control of the border reportedly kidnap people for a higher price.

Jihadists typically cross the border using their own connections, while the al-Nusra Front, which is affiliated to the internationally recognized terror organization al-Qaeda, and Ahrar al-Sham, which is in close collaboration with the AKP government, are in control of the border on the Syrian side. In our interviews, Syrian refugees that have come from villages close to the Turkish border affirmed these two groups as “the Muslim opposition,” noting that the Syrian side of the border with Reyhanlı and Altınözü was largely in their control.

JIHADIST TRAFFIC REFLECTED IN THE PRESS AND CORROBORATED BY LOCAL SOURCES

The Apaydın Camp in Antakya is home to opposition commanders, soldiers and their families and remains off limits to the press.

Nusra militants that came to Reyhanlı in December 2015

As part of an agreement reached with UN mediation in December 2015, 126 wounded opposition militants and civilians were airlifted from the besieged Syrian town of Zebadani to Hatay. One jihadist commander, 52-year-old Muhammed, gave an interview to Al-Monitor “in a hotel in Reyhanlı.” The commander said he was close to the Free Syrian Army (FSA), but was determined to stay with Ahrar al-Sham like many people in the region, noting that it paid for treatment and accommodation.[7]

Since it was added to the UN’s terror list, the al-Nusra Front has not flown its flag in areas near the Turkish border, but it is still possible to see the flag at the border in some areas.[8]

New jihadist supply line opened in February between Reyhanlı and Kilis

In February, journalist Fehim Taştekin noted that hundreds of al-Nusra Front members were entering Turkish territory from Reyhanlı before being shipped to Kilis to the northeast for re-entry back to Syria as reinforcements to Tel Rıfat, a second front that was in a difficult situation along with Azez. The London-based opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 350 militants had been deployed back into Syria with heavy and light weapons. Some of this deployment reached Tel Rıfat. Some of the local sources speaking to Al-Monitor, however, said the number of militants that were transferred over the border was higher.

According to the information provided, one of the crossing points utilized is the Bükülmez village of Reyhanlı. Immediately across from Bükülmez is Atme, which is used for logistical distribution. “A supply corridor has been established between Atme and Azez via Hatay and Kilis,” according to a journalist in Afrin.[9]

Al-Nusra fighters residing in Yayladağı

Again according to Taştekin, it is well-known by everyone who follows developments in the region that al-Nusra is not just active on the Syrian side but also on the Turkish side in Hatay and Kilis. “Nusra fighters are more or less residents of Yayladağı. Whenever they need to, they come and go across the border,” said an employee of a humanitarian aid group in Yayladağı.

Extraordinary traffic in town in February

Since the Syrian army cut jihadists’ supply line between Gaziantep and Aleppo, there has been an extraordinary amount of activity both at the crossing points in Hatay and Kilis to areas of Syria controlled by the jihadists and on the roads that connect these two provinces. There have been two weeks of heavy traffic featuring large trucks whose cargo remains unknown, civilian and armored military vehicles, artillery shells, ambulances and buses returning “Syrians without identification” to their country. The TSK, which has indicated in a variety of ways that it is not as eager as the AKP to engage in a cross-border operation into Syria, has been attempting to closely retain control of the border, but it appears a faction within the state has been encouraging illegal crossings.

It is possible to observe the extraordinary amount of activity in Hatay and its border villages, which began accelerating in December 2015 before climbing even more so in February 2016, even in the provincial center. The movement of armored civilian and military vehicles, as well as “aid trucks,” is visible in the city, while there has been tension resulting in fights and near clashes with civilians and military personnel at the crossing points.

The crossing of between 500 and 2,000 jihadists from Turkey to Syria with heavy weapons in the second week of February is directly related to this traffic.

A fight occurred on 7 February 2016 between officials at the Cilvegözü Customs Gate in Reyhanlı and individuals who wanted to cross into Syria with a vehicle without subjecting it to inspection. As the fight escalated, gendarmerie teams were dispatched to the scene. Senior officials said two customs employees would be reassigned, while officials with knowledge of the altercation refused to talk out of fear for their safety and future employment.

Authorities began checks of Syrians in the center of Hatay as well as at the intercity bus station, detaining some Syrians who failed to produce a temporary ID card.

Some social media accounts close to jihadists also began to target soldiers guarding the frontier. In one instance, Yeni Şafak journalist Yılmaz Bilgen singled out soldiers in Güveççi village in Yayladağı. (image to be added)

11 February: “Aid trucks” are on their way

Then trucks belonging to the Religious Affairs Department that were headed toward Ovakent-Antakya covered in black with the words “It’s time to heal the wounds” written over them were stopped by police, who subjected the drivers to checks. The Religious Affairs Department had previously announced that 20 truckloads of aid had been sent for the Bayır-Bucak Turkmens and for the population badly affected by terror in the southeast.”

13 February: Start of heavy artillery shelling against Syria

Following heavy artillery fire into Syria, 500 jihadists crossed over the border, according to glowing reports in the pro-government media.

14 February: State of emergency in Yayladağı

Yayladağı started experiencing an atmosphere of a state of emergency as the traffic of civilian and military armored vehicles and ambulances intensified toward Harbiye-Yayladağı. In Yayladağı Güveççi, where Turkish soldiers at the border had previously been identified as targets by jihadists and Islamist journalists, one soldier was killed.

16 February: Long range cannon positioned

Cannon and armored vehicles in Hatay were moved toward the border.

17 February: Efforts to legitimize an attack on Syria?

Four buses full of Syrians with no identification were allegedly sent towards Syria from the Cilvegözü border crossing.

In the evening, a bomb attack against military service vehicles killed 28 people and wounded around 60 in Ankara. The blast occurred right next to the Air Force Command building at the very heart of the state in Ankara. Later it was revealed that the person responsible for the attack was a Turkish citizen belonging to the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) who had entered Turkey with a fake ID from Syria due to the loose security procedures established by Turkey at the Syrian border.

18 February: Explosions around Bükülmez village

At around 23.30, explosions were heard around Atme, the stronghold of the jihadists. Atme is next to the Afrin Canton near Reyhanlı’s Bükülmez village.

Residents of Bükülmez evacuated their homes when they heard the explosions. Locals reported hearing at least eight explosions.

Sources close to the jihadists immediately reported that the People’s Protection Units (YPG) had opened fire towards Turkey and that the Turkish army had responded. Later that night, reports indicated that the Turkish cannon had hit targets in Syria and that there were casualties.

26 February: Shells hit Yayladağı

While clashes continued across the border, five shells fell on an empty field in Yayladağı.

28 February: Fighters wounded in Latakia carried to Turkey

Eight fighters wounded in clashes around Latakia are brought to the border at Yayladağı and taken to hospitals in Hatay by ambulance.

5 March: Border check point Cilvegözü closed to all entries from Syria.

The Cilvegözü border crossing was closed to all entries from Syria. Usually around 200 Syrians use the checkpoint to enter Turkey every day. Sources did not reveal how long the gate would stay closed, or the reason for the closure.

6 March: Artillery shells hit Yayladağı

Three shells from artillery fire in Syria fell on a ranch in the Cabala neighborhood in Yayladağı. The following day, Russia said the artillery was fired by the Nusra Front to provoke Turkey.

THE VISIBILITY AND FRICTION CAUSED BY JIHADISTS IN DISTRICTS

ANTAKYA: JIHADISTS REMAIN FREE

During the months of February-March, although checks were intensified, foreigners continued to be observed in the city in army fatigues while sporting long hair and beards without mustaches. Such people became a fixture in the city around bus depots and health clinics. In the face of increased controls and ID checks, observing such people roaming freely raises the question as to whether there is trafficking with the knowledge of the Turkish state. (22 February 2016. Bearded person in army fatigues seen in front of Antakya Birth Center. Appendix – Photograph 1)

Dormitory assigned to jihadists?

The old dormitory is a source of concern in the town of Anayazı. The same building had been condemned for being hazardous with the students evacuated. Later, however, it was converted into a guarded building. The lack of any explanations addressing the concerns has fed suspicions. In reality, the building has been converted into a Return Center by the governor.

A local source who asked to remain anonymous said the Return Center houses ISIL militants who are being transferred to third countries from here. As reports in the foreign press showed, these countries include Ukraine. The walls have been raised in the building after some Chechen jihadists escaped around four or five months ago. (The raised walls and the installed wire fence of the old building. Appendix – Photographs 2 and 3.)

REYHANLI: WAITING FOR THE WAR TO START AND THE VISIBILITY OF ISIL

Persons in black bandanas and baggy pants and long beards without moustaches have become part of daily life in Reyhanlı. Explosions are heard from the village of Bükülmez, right next to the camp of Atme, which is situated right next to a Turkish military post. Also, “illegal” border crossings occur frequently.

The family of a worker we interviewed reflected:

“A lot of Syrians arrived to where we lived when the war started. We opened our doors to all of them. They were, at the least, people who had left their homes and escaped from the war. Many lost their families. Many of them are Sunni, from our sect. We tried helping them all. We gave them work, opened our homes, we didn’t even charge them rent. We gave them clothes. We gave them food. These are the Syrians that came to our village. Anybody would see that those who arrived in our village were poor. Many of them are women. We helped them and still do.”

“The town center of Reyhanlı was a bit different. Those who stayed there were better groomed. Many of them were men. Many of them didn’t have any families. I am saying this because we did not see their families at all. Usually a bunch of these men stayed together in a house. Some of them even had cars. They are in their home during the day but were gone during the night.”

“One of our relatives has a house next to the lake [Yenişehir Lake]. We used to see these men when we went to that house. These types of men would be around there. People who spoke English would come to visit these men. All the cafes around the lake were full of these men. Reyhanlı is not a big town; I mean everybody knows each other. Everybody knows who is related to whom. We also know who is visiting whom. However, we never understood who these men were. Then we had the explosion in Reyhanlı [on 13 May 2013]. Who were responsible for this explosion? They were, of course. Even the Syrians living in the village with us were as scared as we were when the explosion happened. The number of these men decreased after the bomb attack. That is, it was like they simply disappeared after the explosion. If something else happened, I don’t know.”

“Then, you know, Russia started helping [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad. From that time on, we started seeing these men again. I heard they hang around near the Cilvegözü border gate. It is as if they owned the state and controlled the border checkpoint. That is what I heard. I guess they pull back to our side when attacks increase. They take a rest here and hide out. That is what I think. I think soon we may have to abandon our villages. Just like the Syrians. Because if they have returned back here, it means they are ready to do some [bad] things. Maybe another bomb explosion or something. I don’t know. But we are scared. We keep on warning our relatives in the city, we tell them not to go to the markets, bazaars, or to crowded places. But what can they do, they must go. As long as these men are here, this war will catch up with us. If you ask us what to do, there is nothing we can do. We are just waiting for the war to arrive to us.”

Visibility of ISIL

In a visit we made to another border village of Reyhanlı, we were able to observe vehicles displaying the flag of ISIL [white letters on black background in Arabic, reading la-ilaha-illallah with the stamp of the Prophet Muhammad] driving freely in front of the Turkish Gendarmerie, and local sources said the same emblems have been carved on the walls of homes.

ALTINÖZÜ

Flyers dropped from the Syrian side reached Altınözü on 8 March, brought by the wind (Photograph 4). These are the flyers dropped on the areas under jihadist control by the Syrian army prior to the Jisr al-Shughur operation, warning them, “Either surrender or die; the decision is yours.” The area already experiencing illegal crossings on the border may become the site for a new surge of refugees and jihadists infiltrating due to the Jisr al-Shughur operation.

On 7 February, an article was published at http://www.islahhaber.com titled, “Assad family’s 16-verse sacred book Kitab al-Majmu” and spread on the Islamist newspaper Yeni Akit’s internet site. In the news article, after a number of provocative analyses and false accusations, there was a claim that President al-Assad’s Arab Alevi sect, which is also present in Hatay, Adana and Mersin in Turkey, was completely different from Islam. Yeni Akit targeted the Arab Alevis by noting that they largely lived in the Harbiye and Samandağ areas in Hatay. Islamist journalist Fatih Tezcan tweeted from his account, “For some time now, Muslims in Turkey are being killed or are threatened by the Assadist Nusayri [an alternate name for Arab Alevis] minority. May Allah give patience to this nation,” “If the Sunnis in Turkey are wondering what the Nusayris are planning to do, they should look at what the Nusayris did to the Sunnis in Syria.” “For some Nusayris it is OK to stash arms in cemevis [Alevi places of worship], but it is wrong for me to reveal this? The police waited for me? Damn!”

The accusation by Tezcan that the Alevites were stocking arms in cemevis was later published by the Aydınlık newspaper as if it had been confirmed. Aydınlık called the Arab Alevis an “extension of the PKK.” However, Arab Alevis do not worship in cemevis, so there are no cemevis in regions inhabited by Arab Alevis.19

Christians in Hatay targeted

Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP) spokesperson Selin Sayek Böke was identified as a target due to her father being an Orthodox Christian from Hatay. Daily Bugün printed a fictitious news item on 9 February, revealing her father’s religious identity and declaring that his being baptized had precipitated a “crisis” that was creating friction within the party. After Böke was forced to explain herself, Yeni Akit daily twisted her words and said, “I am proud to be a Christian; I am embarrassed to be a Turk.” Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek supported the Akit article, emphasizing the Christian identity of Böke.

ECONOMIC EFFECTS

Drop in exports and corresponding drop in employment

According to figures from the Export Assembly of Turkey, economic sanctions imposed on Turkey by Russia on 1 January 2016, as well as the lack of means of transport due to security issues on the Hatay border, dealt a large blow to export volume, particularly on citrus exporters, in the first two months of 2016. Exports dropped 28% compared to 2011, the last pre-war year. The fall in exports was 34% lower compared to 2013 and 12% over 2015.

Exports in U.S. dollars:

2016:

January 2016: 129.9 million

February 2016: 141.2 million

Total for first two months: 261.1 million

2015:

January 2015: 171.0 million

February 2015: 125.6 million

Total for first two months: 296.7 million

2014:

January 2014: 172.9 million

February 2014: 210.7 million

Total for first two months: 383.2 million

2013:

January 2013: 185.6 million

February 2013: 210.7 million

Total for first two months: 396.3 million

2012:

January 2012: 160.1 million

February 2012: 150.2 million

Total for first two months: 310.3 million

2011:

January 2011: 176.2 million

February 2011: 185.1 million

Total for first two months: 361.3 million

The Chambers of Agriculture also reveals that, “After the crisis with Russia, the exports in fresh fruits and vegetables dropped 38.4%. Exports, which were at $215.2 million in January 2015, dropped to $132.7 million by January 2016.”21

Turkey, which has the largest fleet of trucks in Europe and particularly in cities that lead this sector like Hatay, is experiencing difficulties in transportation due to the crisis in Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Russia.22

This has caused many companies to cease all activities. Since undocumented employment is widespread in agriculture, it is hard to estimate in official numbers how much the crisis has affected the sector.

LIVING CONDITIONS OF REFUGEES

Housing: Just 18,000 of the 402,000 registered Syrian refugees live in a camp. The rest are trying to find accommodation using their own resources. Some of the refugees live in structures converted from farm stables. A Syrian refugee who lives in a horse stable said, “The aid that will come from the EU will go to the gangs, not to the refugees.”23

The newcomers are forced into camps run by the jihadists.

Aid: In an interview we conducted with a refugee in Altınözü, he stated that they were getting a 450 TL ($150.00) spending card every three months which was restricted to purchases at certain shops.

Education: The 132,000 Syrian children in Hatay receive almost no educational support from the state. Children are educated by people who determine the curriculum arbitrarily in buildings lacking many basic amenities. There are also widespread accusations that the curriculum is of Islamic base and has nothing to do with either Turkey or Syria.

Health: In a report titled “War, Migration and Heath,” the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) recorded the following observations: Vitamin deficiency, anemia, unwanted or risky pregnancies, loss of fetuses, complications during birth, delayed development in children, chronic illness and related complications, diarrhea, malaria, meningitis, typhoid and communicable diseases. Diseases preventable by vaccinations, tuberculosis, hepatitis and similar diseases; HIV/AIDS and other STDs, Injuries related to physical violence, sexual abuse; depression, anxiety disorders, fatigue, sleep disorders, extended mourning, stress disorders after a trauma and similar psychological disorders, as well as dental issues. The report also emphasized the language and belief issues that exacerbate these psychological disorders.

The report also mentioned the vulnerability of women and young girls to sexual abuse.

Labor: Syrians usually work in agriculture for 20-40 TL a day ($6.5 – $13.00) with no social security or protection.

Women’s issues and sexual abuse: The widespread phenomena of forced prostitution, sexual abuse in the camps or in the cities, forced marriages as second or third wives, and forced marriages at very young ages still prevail. Especially in places around the old bus terminals (For example, Cansu Café, Attachment Photo 5), Serinyol and Reyhanlı, apartments and some hotels are being used as locations for forcing Syrian women into prostitution.

The TTB and the Human Rights Association have mentioned this issue in their reports, noting that this area is where the highest exploitation occurs in the most hidden way happens for refugees.

Appendix – On the road to Harbiye, in front of Dükkan Gabbut, images of the army headed to Yayladağı. Photographs 6,7,8,9,10,11